Birthday Traditions
by helloitskrisha
Summary: For the first time in her entire life, Christine will be spending her birthday without her father. She's not looking forward to it. Her Angel, however, has resolved to cheer her up.


**A/N: This fic actually takes place in the same universe as my multi-chapter fic "Night Unfurls Its Splendor" (**** s/13348149/1/Night-Unfurls-Its-Splendor) ****but it's a prequel and can be read on its own :D**

**I just wanted to write a lighter and fluffier E/C fic. XD**

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Christine loved her nightly singing lessons. She felt a sense of accomplishment every time she mastered a new aria and enjoyed hearing the improvements in her voice.

And, though she has never admitted it, she liked talking to her Angel of Music. As for Her Angel, well, he relished her company as well.

But on one particular night, Erik noticed that she seemed distracted during their lesson. She was half-heartedly singing and was barely listening to his comments and instructions.

"Where are they now, Christine?" He asked coldly.

"What?" Christine looked like she had just snapped out of a trance. "I'm sorry, Angel. I didn't hear that. What were you asking?"

Even though she couldn't see her Angel's face, she could feel his anger emanating from the walls. "Your thoughts, Christine. I was asking you where your thoughts are right now."

She hung her head in shame but he continued berating her. "Christine, if you're not going to take our lessons seriously, then you're just wasting both of our time. I thought you wanted to become a professional singer. Clearly, you don't have the discipline, passion, or dedication needed to succeed."

Her eyes widened at his words. "I'm sorry, Angel. I'm _really_ sorry. I didn't mean to be so distracted… It's just that…" She paused, and he noticed that she started getting teary-eyed. But then she shook her head and hastily rubbed her eyes. "No. That's not an excuse. Please forgive me, Angel. I'll… I'll take it from the top."

She opened her mouth to start singing again but Erik cut her off. Something about seeing her cry stirred something in him. "No, Christine. I… Please tell me what's wrong."

Christine was hesitant. She hasn't told anyone about these feelings before. She put both of her hands on her face and let her tears start to fall. "It's just that… it's my birthday tomorrow. And it's the first time I'll be celebrating without papa.

For the longest time, he was all I had. My only family, my only companion. We traveled around a lot, so we never spent my birthday in the same place twice. Always different areas, different people. Papa was the only constant…

But now… now, he's gone. I know Madame Giry will probably bake me a cake or something. And maybe Meg will take me to the mall. I know they care about me and I should be grateful… But I just can't stand the thought of not having my papa around, not getting to do our birthday traditions together.

I have to pretend to be happy tomorrow. I can't lose my cool around Meg and Madame Giry. But the sadness is tearing me up inside."

Christine was crying hard now. She rested her head on the mirror and her tears fogged up the glass. Erik's heart softened at the sight of her and, although the thought made him feel ashamed, he suddenly imagined that she was resting her head on his shoulder instead. He pictured himself wiping away her tears and kissing her cheeks.

Feeling guilt well up inside him, he pushed those thoughts away. _She's obviously hurt and grieving, and you're thinking about how much you want to touch her right now? What kind of savage beast are you, Erik?_ He berated himself.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, my dear." It was all he really could say.

"Thank you, Angel." She said, weakly moving away from the mirror. "Please don't think that I'm not taking our lessons seriously because I do. I really do."

"I know you do, Christine. You've been practicing very hard these past few weeks."

Wiping tears from her eyes, she tried to put on a brave face. "I should… probably sing now."

Before Erik could stop himself, he suddenly blurted out "What do you and your father usually do on your birthday, my dear?"

Christine was surprised by his question. Her Angel of Music has always tried to keep a professional distance between them. The only time he ever showed interest in her personal life was when he first spoke to her. He complimented her singing and comforted her, telling her that she never had to be alone.

She guessed that the only reason he was asking her this question now was that he just wanted her to calm down. If she's relaxed, she could focus on their lesson more easily afterward.

"Well, every year, my father would bake me my favorite pastries for breakfast. Then, we'd usually go for a walk around whatever place we were currently living in. Just explore the place for a bit. Activities we do in the day would vary every year. But the nights always ended the same way: he would sit next to my bed and play his violin for me. We'd sing together until I get sleepy."

She paused, letting the happy memories dry her tears. "That was it really. It's not much… but I loved our traditions."

As she wiped away the tears on her cheeks, she smiled. Talking about her father did help her feel better. "I think I'm ready to sing now, Angel."

...

The next day, Christine woke up not expecting much. She didn't feel like celebrating her birthday but she was determined to put on a happy face. She didn't want Meg and Madame Giry to feel like she didn't appreciate their efforts to cheer her up.

Much like she had anticipated, the older Giry had baked her a cake and Meg happily presented it to her as soon as she woke up. "Happy birthday, Christine! Look what mom baked for you. I think it's chocolate mousse!"

Meg handed her the cake. "And I have a gift for you, too… well, I haven't bought it yet. I thought that we could go to the mall together today and you can pick the gift out for yourself. Anything you want, I'll buy it for you!"

Christine smiled softly. "Thank you, Meg. That's very thoughtful of you."

Meg excitedly grinned at her and Christine could tell that there was something else she wasn't telling her.

"What is it? What's with the face?" Christine inquired.

Meg giggled. "Chris, I think you might have a secret admirer."

Christine furrowed her brow. "Secret admirer? What? But I barely even know anyone here in New York."

"Maybe it's the guy from the hotdog stand. He seemed to like you." Meg teased.

"You mean the hotdog vendor who was clearly in his sixties and was making weird comments about my feet? Yeah, that makes me feel soooo much better. Thank you, Meg." Christine sarcastically rolled her eyes.

Meg laughed and tackled Christine in a playful hug. "I'm kidding! Geez. But I wasn't joking about the secret admirer thing. I found a box of pastries outside the door. It has your name on it. Oh, and it came with this rose."

Christine took the light-blue box and placed it on her lap. She opened the lid and glanced at its contents. Inside, there was _kanelbulle_, _peparkakor_, _semla_, and a wealth of other Swedish pastries. Her heart melted at the sights and scents that reminded her of her childhood.

Then, she eyed the long-stemmed white rose. Attached to it was a rolled piece of paper held together by a black ribbon. She set the pastries on the edge of her bed and unrolled the note:

"_Dearest Christine,_

_Pastries for breakfast are a tradition. We don't want to break that streak now, do we? A surprise awaits inside the box._

_Wishing you the happiest birthday,_

_Your Angel of Music_"

Christine's cheeks flushed as she read the note, and Meg couldn't contain her excitement. "Soooo, who is it from? Is it anyone you know?"

"Um," Christine struggled to find the words. This was the sweetest gift she had ever received in a long, long time. "Well, it's definitely not from a secret admirer. It's from my music teacher."

Meg gasped. "Ooh! You never really told me about him. Is he into you? _Is he hot_?"

Laughing loudly, Christine playfully hit Meg's arm. "Meg, stop! I don't think he likes me that way. He probably just felt bad because I cried in front of him yesterday. It was pretty embarrassing, to be honest. I told him about the pastries papa used to make for my birthday."

Meg looked unconvinced. "I don't know, Chris. This gift still seems pretty romance-y to me." She took the note from Christine's hand and read it. "Also, what's the surprise in the box?"

Both girls rushed to open the box of pastries, looking around for the "surprise." At first, they couldn't find anything so they decided to take out all the pastries. Christine shook the seemingly empty box and heard something move inside.

She looked within the box again. This time, she noticed a small opening at the base. She reached inside it and found an object swathed in bubble wrap.

Although she hasn't seen devices like this in a long while, she recognized what it was. Her papa had one of these before. "It looks like a Walkman…" Christine said as she gently unwrapped the object.

She and Meg immediately noticed that there was a tape inside it. Meg looked excited at the discovery. "What are you waiting for?! Play it! Play it!"

Christine laughed at her friend's manic energy. She put the headphones on and pushed the "Play" button on the Walkman. A familiar voice greeted her and she suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach.

"_Happy birthday, Christine_," the recording of her Angel's voice said, "_I hope you're enjoying your morning so far. Perhaps we could take a walk together today. Anytime you're ready, just play the tape. I'll be in your ear the entire time. I believe you haven't explored the wonders of New York City yet. Let your Maestro be your tour guide for the day…_"

Her heart fluttered at the sound of his deep, rich voice, and she silently wondered if Meg was right. Did her Angel have feelings for her? She blushed at the thought and quickly pushed it away. She didn't want to make her relationship with him awkward by assuming that he was doing this because he liked her in a romantic way.

_He's just doing something nice for you_, she thought to herself. _Appreciate it but don't read into it_.

After eating her pastries, Christine went to the mall with Meg. Although she wasn't really in a shopping mood, she let Meg lead her from store to store. She tried out different outfits and finally picked a nice blue blouse for Meg to buy for her.

After that, they went their separate ways. Meg knew that all Christine wanted was to continue playing the tape and see where her Angel would take her. She didn't stop teasing Christine about the "obvious crush" her voice coach seemed to have on her. Christine continued denying it… but a part of her did hope that it was true.

She roamed around the city while listening to the tape. He had led her to some of New York's most popular landmarks, sharing interesting facts about each monument and building with her.

"_Did you know, my dear, that the Empire State Building was built during a competition to create the world's tallest building?_" She listened as her Angel talked fondly about the construction and design process. Her heart felt warm, and she giggled a bit to learn that her music teacher was secretly an architecture nerd.

She loved hearing his voice. Even when he was only speaking, it felt like he were playing a beautiful melody in her ear. Still, she wished that her Angel was there walking with her… She tried to picture his delighted eyes as he took her to see The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and, of course, the Theater District.

The final stop on their tour was, to Christine's surprise, back to the rehearsal studio. "_Here we are, my dear, the last stop. I don't know what time you started playing this tape, but hopefully, you will have arrived at the rehearsal studio by 7 pm. I'll be inside waiting for you. Since today is a special occasion, we won't be having lessons. But there is still one more birthday tradition for us to do_."

Christine walked into the studio and locked the door behind her. "Angel? Are you here?"

"I'm here, Christine. Did you have a good day?" Her Angel replied, warmth and gentleness emanating from his voice.

She wanted so badly for him to step out of the walls so that she could thank him to his face. But she knew that the chances of that happening were slim. After all, she thought, maybe he had a good reason to want to hide…

"I had a wonderful day, Angel." She blushed. "Thank you for the gifts. You know, you didn't have to put in all of this effort for me… Not that I don't appreciate them. It's just… I hope it wasn't too much trouble. You're probably busy… doing… whatever it is that you do when you're not here."

Her Angel laughed and her heart started beating loudly in her chest. She wondered how a man she had never even seen could have this effect on her. "It was no bother at all. You're very welcome, Christine."

He continued, "But the day isn't over yet. Would you like to hear me play the violin for you? It's a tradition, after all."

Although she couldn't see his face, she could tell that her Angel was smiling widely. "Yes, I'd like that very much, Angel."

Christine had always guessed that her secretive and guarded voice coach was just a man. But at this moment, as she listened to the song he played for her, she wondered whether he really _was_ an angel sent by her father. She sat by the piano, closed her eyes, and let his music wipe away her sadness even if only for a few minutes.

This was a good day.


End file.
